Development of a Japanese version of the Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale: Reliability and validity

Abstract

Aim: The Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS) was developed in the UK to measure mental health-related behavior. The current study aimed to evaluate the applicability, and reliability of a Japanese version of the RIBS (RIBS-J) in a Japanese context, and further examine the construct validity of the RIBS-J. Methods:The sample included 224 undergraduate and postgraduate students at a Japanese university. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess internal consistency. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to examine the divergent validity between the RIBS-J and the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule and the convergent validity between the second subscale of the RIBS-J and Japanese version of the Social Distance Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis assessed the goodness of model fit of the RIBS-J. We also examined test-retest reliability with another undergraduate sample (n = 29).Results: Most items exhibited no floor/ceiling effect. High internal consistency (α = 0.83) was reported.The second subscale of the RIBS-J, measuring intended behavior, correlated with the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (r = 0.33, P < 0.001) and the Japanese version of the Social Distance Scale (r = −0.60, P < 0.001). In addition, confirmatory factor analysis found good model fit for the RIBS-J (χ 2 = 41.001, d.f. = 19, P = 0.002, goodness-of-fit index = 0.956, adjusted goodness-of-fit index = 0.916, comparative fit index = 0.955, root mean square error of approximation = 0.072). Overall test-retest reliability (ρc) was 0.71. Conclusion:The RIBS-J is an appropriate and psychometrically robust measure of behavior towards individuals with mental health problems in Japan. Further studies using a community sample could assess the generalizability of our findings.

Psychometric validation of the Italian version of the Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS)

“…These findings, which are similar to those reported by Evans-Lacko et al (2011) and Yamaguchi et al (2014), are of interest given previous findings (Thornicroft et al 2009;Lasalvia et al 2013), which highlighted that almost half of the individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia reported stigma or discrimination in the area of making or keeping friends. These findings, which are similar to those reported by Evans-Lacko et al (2011) and Yamaguchi et al (2014), are of interest given previous findings (Thornicroft et al 2009;Lasalvia et al 2013), which highlighted that almost half of the individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia reported stigma or discrimination in the area of making or keeping friends.…”

“…The Italian population reported lower levels of contacts with people with psychiatric disorders compared with the Japanese (Yamaguchi et al 2014) and English samples , but higher levels of contacts compared with the people from Czech Republic (Winkler et al 2015), where the deinstitutionalisation process has started only recently and people with mental illness are still confined to the borders of the society. Moreover, compared with the Italian sample, the English and Japanese samples are more willing to have future contacts with people with mental illness.…”

“…The RIBS has been translated and validated into Japanese (Yamaguchi et al 2014); showing good results for the RIBS-J. The internal consistency was high (α = 0.83) and the test-retest reliability (ρc) was moderate (0.71).…”

Mental‐health‐related stigma among Japanese children and their parents and impact of renaming of schizophrenia

“…The RIBS‐J consists of four binary items rated on a 5‐point Likert scale assessing past experiences with people with mental health problems (RIBS past, range 0–4; higher scores represent more social contact) and four items about future behavioral intentions (RIBS future, range 4–20; higher scores indicate a more positive intention, such as ‘In the future, I would be willing to live with someone with a mental health problem’) . Both the original and Japanese versions have good validity and reliability …”

Psychometric validation of the Reported and Intended Behavior Scale (RIBS) with adolescents.

“…In the current study, 'yes' was coded as one and 'no' and 'don't know' as zero, as per an adult validation of RIBS (Yamaguchi et al, 2014). Intended behaviors (items 5-8) are assessed in terms of participants' willingness to have future contact across the same four contexts (response options: 1 = disagree strongly, 2 = disagree slightly, 3 = neither agree not disagree/don't know, 4 = agree slightly, 5 = agree strongly).…”